Reviewing Random Films For Fun

June 7, 2015June 7, 2015

Woodstock #MovieReview

Woohoo! 200 films!!!! Yes, this is film 200 in the “1001 films to see before you die” challenge. 1970’s “Woodstock”. This Michael Wadleigh music documentary is about everything that happened at Woodstock Festival that took place in 1969. This is a really fun film. All you have to do is sit back, relax and let the music run through you. Just realised how much that made me sound like a hippy in this film but that was the festival’s main goal. It was to bring everyone together for, in their words, “3 days of peace and music”. Going into this, I only knew that Jimi Hendrix performed on a Monday morning at 9am to close the entire show. That and Woodstock 1999 which had Limp Bizkit and Rage Against the Machine headline. On Wikipedia, there is actually a setlist which tells you how long everyone got and how much each artist earned. Hendrix played for two hours and was paid $30,000. Joan Baez, who was six months pregnant at the time, ended night one and made $10,000. The lowest earning artist was Quill who earned $375 who played for 30 minutes to start day 2. Overall, I really enjoyed this and would definatly recommend watching it. Especially if you’re into music, like I am, want to discover new artists, like I do, or if you want to see some of your favourite artists perform live, like I did. Fun Fact of the Film – Financially, the concert was a disaster for its promoters, who failed to invest in the lucrative movie and soundtrack. If you have seen this film then let me know what you thought of it in the comments. Or, if you were actually at the festival then let me know what it was like at the time in the comments. Here is what I had to say while watching 1970’s “Woodstock”. Now excuse me while I celebrate 200 films!!!

Film – Woodstock
Year – 1970
Director – Michael Wadleigh
Written by – Michael Wadleigh
Staring – Joan Baez, Richie Havens, Roger Daltrey, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker
IMDb Rating – 8.1/10
My Rating – 8.5/10
Length – 123 min (2h 3min) (Part 1)
– 30 min (Part 2 Jimi Hendrix set)
Genre – Documentary, Music
We open with an explosion
What’s wrong with Corn Flakes?
“Long Time Gone” by Crosby, Stills & Nash plays as we see preperation for Woodstock take place
Who thought it would be a good idea to make a stage out of logs?
Don’t interupt me when I’m smoking a joint
This took nine months to plan and put together
Bob Hite tells us he needs to pee
Time for “Going Up the Country” by Canned Heat
Was everyone in the late 60’s a hippy?
Lots of dancing in the night sky
And quicking into “Wooden Ships” by Crosby, Stills & Nash
All I can see are sparks
All I wanna do is sit back and listen to the songs
Better burn all the spare wood? Not like we’re gonna need it
Looks like everyone has come to see this
Don’t call yourself a freak
Someone who is selling hot dogs think this is good for business
A very hairy man talks about everyone
Two men talk about how to stop those without tickets
200,000 people due to arrive
The promoter needs to make $2,000,000 to make some form of profit
The chopity-chopity? – You mean helicopter
The man in the left looks like Billy Crystal
“Weed smells like strawberries”
Damn helicopters! I can’t sound check
Brown acid?
Time for Richie Havens to perform
He starts with “Handsome Johnny”
He has massive fingernails
He’s not even singing into the mic but it’s picking up his voice well
Excuse me while I kill time while I fix a broken guitar string
Richie then performs “Freedom” while the audience claps along
All you can really do during performances is sit back and listen
Is that sweat he’s covered in?
Richie decides he’s played enough and leaves
So much for that protective fence
The concert is now free!
“Welfare is more important than music”
People are falling ill from “poisoned acid” and fans are now doctors
Some girls does a “he loves me he loves me not” in their bikinis
Meanwhile on the right, a man with his guitar talks about Japanese products
Back with Canned Heat who perform “A Change is Gonna Come”
A fan has jumped on stage… and shares a cigarette with Bob Hite
Rather than get taken away, security let him sit on the stage and watch the show
Why is the drummer playing with one stick the wrong way round?
Thanks cameraman for showing up a close-up of Bob’s gut
Joan Baez is told she’s closing the first night and dedicates a song to her husband David
David has been taken from prison to federal prison
The song she dedicated to David is called “Joe Hill”
It’s raining but no one cares
Joan moves on into her next song ” Swing Low Sweet Chariot”
I guess she didn’t end night one as The Who are now performng
“See Me Feel Me” by The Who
Just waiting for something to get destroyed
Now for The Who to perform “Summertime Blues”
Finally get to hear this version after hearing Eddie Cochran & Rush’s version of the song
YES!!!! A ROGER DALTREY SOLO!!!!!
YES!!!!! Something got broke!!
Have a souvenier… Roger’s guitar
This is so much better organised than the Rolling Stones one with Hells Angels
It’s the second day
The Indian man gives a speech about Gandhi and everyone finding spirits inside themselves
Back to the performances and Sha Na Na perform “At the Hop”
As quick as the song finishes, the entire band runs off stage
Time for an intermission in the convert with some yoga

INTERMISSION – Having lunch. A bacon sandwich for those wondering
If their having one then I’m having one

And we’re back with Joe Cocker and the Grease Band
They perform “With a Little Help From My Friends”
I can’t tell if Joe is playing air guitar or drums – Seems to be playing both
Just realised he’s been going for 10 minutes!
And it’s pissing it down!
And the wind is picking up as well
Give us some time to cover up and Country Joe & The Fish will perform
If we all pray together, we can stop the rain
“No rain!”
Why does someone have a tennis ball stuck to their shoe?
Nowadays, festivals carry on as they have roofs on the stage and are better built
We get an announcement that someone called John has to leave as his dad is having open-heart surgery
Lets make a slip n’ slide out of rain and mud
The crowd entertain themselves with “Crowd Rain Chant”
Dammit! You got mud all over the camera
When you don’t have instruments, use empty beer cans and sticks
The promoters are nice enough to award fans with beer for their patience
Someone out of a helicopter is dropping clothes and flowers to everyone in attendance
Meanwhile, on the right of he screen a couple get naked and lay in the grass
The promoters say the festival has been a massive financial flop
After some time, County Joe & The Fish perform now the rain has died down
They perform “Rock and Soul Music”
We get more footage of fans at the festival as “Coming Into Los Angeles” by Arlo Guthrie plays
Lots of marijuana smoking
Even the camera have take a puff
Meanwhile, a policeman really enjoys his ice lolly
It’s Crosby Stills & Nash!!!!
The perform “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”
Quickly into Ten Years After with “I’m Going Home”
Why does the lead singer leave with a giant watermelon?
And the DVD ends with the entire Jimi Hendrix set
“Voodoo Child”, “Star-Spangled Banner”, “Purple Haze” are the main songs that get played
Just waiting for Jimi to play the guitar with his teeth or set it on fire
Did I mention that it’s Monday morning?!
The festival had overran!!!
YES!!! He just played guitar with his teeth!!!
After the performance is over… So is Woodstock
THE END